Nunzia Gabriella Fasolino

The objective of this paper is to review the literature on the current economic research on the bioeconomy and circular economy, and to derive lessons learned, gaps, and implications for further research in view of the integration of the two concepts into that of the circular bioeconomy. The sample of papers reviewed is composed of 83 articles extracted from the Scopus database and characterized by considering the two concepts jointly. The literature shows that the bioeconomy is not implicitly circular and that the circular economy does not substitute the concept of bioeconomy. On the other hand, circularity has some commonalities with concepts at the core of the bioeconomy, such as the cascading approach, and is potentially complementary to emerging attributes advocated for in the bioeconomy, such as sustainability and resilience. This brings a need for a better formalization of the concept of circular bioeconomy, especially in the field of economics. In addition, the results point out that intertwining factors affect the potential development of a circular bioeconomy, such as specific policies, education systems, social acceptance, market structure, and resource availability. Lastly, a large part of the literature connected to circular bioeconomy tries to go beyond circularity as a mere technicism and rather highlights the need for a comprehensive societal and business transformation rather than a simple transition in this direction.

The objective of this chapter is to investigate the use of the system dynamics (SD) approach in relation to the bioeconomy. This approach is increasingly perceived as a method able to describe real-world complex systems. Hence, considering the transdisciplinary nature of the bioeconomy and its call for a holistic perspective of the multiple sectors and socio-technical subsystems of which it is composed, the SD method may be the way we can model, simulate, and explore the behaviour of complex bioeconomy systems. In order to understand the state of the art of SD in the field of the bioeconomy, we conducted a systematic literature review through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews approach. The results of this review show that the use of SD for the representation of the bioeconomy as a whole is currently limited, as only 12 papers were found in the literature matching the selection criteria. On the contrary, several articles focus their analysis solely on a single value chain or a single sector, using the bioeconomy only as a wider framework. Nevertheless, the results suggest that there is a solid foundation to move forward and that the implementation of these systemic models is promising for future research. Important strengths of the approach include the ability to make circularity more explicit and to support the identification of intervention points that could potentially contribute to more targeted bioeconomy policies.

Irrigation plays a pivotal role in Southern Europe, and its importance is expected to further increase due to rising climatic variability. Concurrently, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) mandates the safeguarding of water bodies and the implementation of incentive pricing strategies to promote efficient water management. Within this context, Irrigation Scheduling Decision Support Systems (IS-DSS) could contribute to the achievement of these objectives, although there are still obstacles to their adoption due to uncertainties regarding their potential benefits. This paper aims to derive a pricing model that reflects actual water use through the adoption of an IS-DSS. The innovation of this study lies in showing that adopting an IS-DSS to reduce irrigation volumes can potentially lower concession fees in collective irrigation systems. Thus, it contributes to the fulfilment of the WFD’s objectives regarding incentive water pricing. Notably, the tool is evaluated using the case study of a farm located in the Mediterranean region. The results demonstrate the dual benefits of IS-DSS adoption: on the one hand, it helps preserve water resources with a 24% reduction in irrigation volumes; on the other, it decreases irrigation costs by 20% at the farm level and by 9.4% at the irrigation district level. Therefore, the presented study provides insights into the potential of IS-DSS to enhance water pricing policies to promote efficient water management in Southern European agriculture in alignment with the WFD requirements.

Wetlands have a fundamental role in the maintenance and development of the global ecosystem and human health. Assessing the value of Ecosystem Services (ES) that wetlands provide is strictly related to environmental, economic, and social sustainability. This paper considers the Oristanese Reclamation District located in the Italian region of Sardinia, where the highest amount of water resources is used for irrigation. Moreover, the study area is characterized by the presence of numerous ponds and wetlands that are deeply interconnected with local agriculture, attracting a substantial number of tourists. This paper aims to evaluate the touristic value in the area by applying the travel cost method, a non-market evaluation method used to derive consumers’ preferences. Through secondary data, we obtained a total estimate of economic benefits from the recreational uses of the site of approximately €1.25 Mln/year. The results provide support to decision-makers for improving management options while ensuring a tradeoff between the economic benefits derived from tourist activities and the conservation of the wetland area.

Linking the improvement of water ecosystems to the use of economic concepts and instruments is one of the main innovations introduced by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). This should be achieved by Member States through an approach clearly linking measures and interventions to improve water ecosystems to the identified pressures on water bodies (i.e., the gap analysis) and a set of economic provisions. However, modest progress in the implementation of these provisions has been recorded over time. Therefore, this paper aims to shed new light on the current limits in the implementation of the economic analysis of the WFD, in particular in relation to the gap analysis, through a comprehensive review of grey and scientific literature on the topics of gap analysis, economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services, water pricing, and disproportionate costs of measures. General conclusions and recommendations of this analysis are that enhancing data quality, promoting consistency and interaction in economic analysis components, and embedding them pragmatically in decision-making procedures are crucial. The gap analysis plays a pivotal role in directing economic research towards relevant issues within the river basin and in guiding decision makers more effectively in the application of the economic analyses required by the WFD.